Ranma's Evolution
by Taka
Summary: Ranma ends up a product of the Weapon X program and goes forth to destroy one person: Wolverine. But what happens when things don't go as planned... crossover with X Men Evolution
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I don't own either Ranma ½ or X-Men  
Evolution. I wish I owned one of them. *sigh*   
  
Ranma's Evolution  
Ranma ½ / X-Men Evolution Crossover  
By Hawk  
  
Note: This fic takes place after Season 1 of X-Men Evolution  
even though this prologue takes place during 'Grim  
Reminder'.   
  
Prologue: A Grim Reminders Birth  
  
  
Beep   
  
The room shook violently.   
  
Beep   
  
The ceiling above began to crumble and fall to the  
floor in dust and chunks, voices echoing throughout the  
building.  
  
"You caged the wrong animal, Bub!" A rugged   
voice.  
Beep  
  
"Stop! This place is going to blow!" He recognized  
the voice. It haunted his dreams.  
  
Beep  
  
"Let it! Kitty, leave!" The rugged voice again.  
  
Beep   
  
"Not without you!" A higher pitched voice, obviously  
female.  
  
Beep  
  
"No argument this time!" A different voice from all  
the others, a strange accent he couldn't place.  
  
Beep  
  
"Project Weapon X has been terminated!" The rugged  
voice one last time.  
  
Beep  
  
The ceiling above him crashed down around the tube  
filled with green liquid and the naked body of a young teen.  
The standing tank tittered and fell over, the glass cracking on  
impact, but not breaking open. The body inside slammed  
against the glass, the wires connected to the arms and chest  
were ripped off, cutting off the connection to the life support  
machine.   
  
  
beepbeepbeepbeepbeeeeeeeeeeeeeee  
eep   
  
Two blue-grey eyes opened, looking utterly lost,  
confused, before glazing over and becoming lifeless.   
  
Next Time: Ranma's Rebirth  
The explosion during 'Grim Reminder' has awoken the last  
of the Scientists creations. Not knowing where he is, or  
what's going on, all he knows is the name Logan, and that he  
must kill the man known as Wolverine.   
  
Authors Notes: The above lines are from the episode 'Grim  
Reminder'. I'm skipping over the Cauldron episodes simply  
because I didn't like them that much, and I'm starting right  
before the beginning of season 2, 'Growing Pains'. 


	2. Chapter 1

Ranma's Evolution  
Ranma ½ / X-Men Evolution Crossover  
By Hawk  
  
Note: This chapter takes place a couple days before 'Growing  
Pains'. Also, Ranma is speaking English throughout the  
whole thing. Unless ^'s are around what's spoken.  
  
"English"  
^Japanese^  
  
Chapter 1: Ranma's Rebirth   
  
The snow under his bare feet burned with the fierce  
intensity that only a real fire could match. He listened dully to  
the snow crunching from each step. Slowly he approached a  
medium sized building made of wood in the middle of  
nowhere Canada. He'd been wandering around for two days,  
in the nude, looking for some sign of civilization.   
  
He walked up to the door of the building, walking up  
to a beefy looking man dressed in black. The man raised his  
right eyebrow at him. "You need somethin', kid?" he said,  
pointedly not look at the teens lower half.   
  
The naked teen looked the man over. "You're to big,"  
he said plainly.   
  
"What? Look, kid, I don't think you shou-argl!" the  
tall man gargled weakly as he was lifted off his feet, the teen  
holding him off the ground by his neck.   
  
The teen pulled the man so they were face to face and  
growled softly. He extended his arm, throwing the man  
backwards, through the front door and onto the interior floor.  
There were a few feminine screams as the man landed.   
  
"Hey! Whaddya think you're doing, pal! We don't  
open for another 40 minutes!" another, skinnier man shouted  
angrily, approaching the teen.  
  
The teen looked around the room, noticing about 15  
women dressed in very little, watching him both warily and  
with interest. It wasn't every day that a guy was naked instead  
of them, he reasoned. He also took notice of how most of  
their attention was directed toward his lower half, and  
grinned subconsciously.   
  
The manager continued to rant, "I don't think you're  
old enough to be here so you better get the hell out or I'll call  
the cops and report you for breaking and entering!"   
  
Turning his attention back to the manager, the teen  
looked him up and down. "Gimme your clothes," he said.   
  
The manager stuttered in outrage. "What! I'm not  
giving you anything!" he finally managed, "That's it! I'm  
calling the police!" As he turned around, the manager found  
the collar of his leather jacket grabbed from behind, stopping  
him in place.   
  
"I don't think you heard me. You ARE going to give  
me your clothes."  
  
*********   
  
Fifteen minutes later, the managers red beat up, pick  
up truck pulled out from behind the strip bar and revving its  
engine once, took off down the road. The driver was fully  
clothed, wearing a blue and white flannel vest over a plain  
white shirt and a dirty pair of jeans.   
  
********* A day later   
  
"Kurt! Kitty! You two gonna go to Jeans game this  
Thursday?" Scott Summers asked as he caught up to the two  
younger students.  
  
"Scott, it's only Tuesday! Yeesh! Like, don't worry  
about it!" Kitty replied nonchalantly as she and Kurt walked  
toward Scotts car.  
  
"Ya! Don't worry about it! But sure, we'll come and  
cheer her on!" Kurt added, his accent clearly German.   
  
"Thanks you guys, I'd feel a little weird going by  
myself," Scott admitted embarrassingly, rubbing the back of  
his head. He sighed out loud at the sight of Jean and Duncan  
walking to Duncan's car.   
  
"Jeez, Scott! You like, need to get over Jean, or  
something," Kitty complained as they got into Scotts car.   
  
Scott sighed again. "Maybe you're right."  
  
*********  
  
"Ah, Logan, there you are. Storm and I have been  
waiting."  
  
"Sorry, Chuck, had to finish up in the Danger Room  
with the elf," the man known as Wolverine replied as he took  
a seat facing Professor Xavier.   
  
"That's quite alright. Now that you're both here, I'm  
happy to inform you that we'll be receiving nine new  
students," Professor Xavier explained calmly, intertwining  
his fingers.   
  
"NINE?" Logan roared in horror. "We have a hard  
enough time dealing with the six we have already!"   
  
Ororo Monroe laughed weakly, "I have to agree with  
Logan on this, Professor. Don't you think that fifteen students  
. . . is a little much for us to handle?"   
  
"We'll just have to make do, and see what happens,"  
Professor Xavier replied, "Now, to get started, we have  
Amara Aquilla, a young girl of 14 with the ability to generate  
and project intense heat from her body.   
  
"Next we have Tabitha Smith. She's 15 and has the  
ability to create "time bombs" of sort, balls of explosive  
energy. She maybe a bit of a handful.  
  
"Jubilation Lee. A 13 year old with the power to  
generate explosive energy bursts similar to fireworks. They  
can vary in power and intensity.   
  
"Roberto DaCosta is a 14 year old boy that has the  
ability to absorb and conserve solar energy and turn it into  
physical strength. Not only that, but he can turn the energy he  
conserves into concussive force blasts.  
  
"The 13 year old girl you see there is Rahne Sinclair.  
She's a metamorph. She can transform herself into a wolf.  
You may get along well with her, Logan."  
  
The Wolverine grunted.  
  
"This young man here is Jamie Madrox, he's the  
youngest of the eight at 12. Jamie has the ability to create  
exact living duplicates of himself upon any physical impact  
and later absorb the copy back into himself.  
  
"Samuel Guthrie is a 15 year old boy with the ability  
to expel thermo-chemical energy that can propel him with  
extreme force," Xavier explained as Logan and Ororo sorted  
through the photographs of each of the children.  
  
"Could you put that in English, Chuck?" Logan  
asked, holding up the picture of Samuel Guthrie.  
  
"He can launch himself forward with extreme force.  
Almost like a human cannonball."  
  
"Oh," Logan mumbled.  
  
"Ray Crisp is 15 years old with the ability to generate  
pulsing bolts of electrical energy. He maybe a little hard to  
handle.  
  
"And last, but certainly not least, we have Bobby  
Drake. A 14 year old boy that can project intense cold and  
turn moisture in the air to ice."  
  
Logan groaned and rubbed his temples. "Am I the  
only one in this room getting a major headache?"  
  
"You're not alone," Ororo replied rubbing her  
forehead as well.  
  
*********  
  
"Where's, Logan?" Rogue asked as the team settled  
down to eat dinner.   
  
"He needed some time alone," Professor Xavier  
replied as he stuck his fork into his salad.   
  
"Off on his lone wolf thing, eh?" Kurt added before  
shoveling a piece of his lambchop into his mouth.   
  
"Kurt! You know you shouldn't speak about Logan  
like that. He does a lot of things for this school," Professor  
Xavier admonished, finishing off his salad.   
  
"Sorry, Professah," Kurt replied, now studying his  
dinner quietly.  
  
"Wolverine just needs some time alone. Being around  
you children is enough to drive a man insane, especially  
Logan," Xavier explained jokingly.   
  
"Did the Professor just make a joke? On OUR  
behalf?" Jean asked in amazement.  
  
"I think he did, Jean!" Scott exclaimed with a laugh.   
  
*********  
  
Logan revved his motorcycles engine before starting  
off at the green light and crossing the intersection. He felt the  
most comfortable while riding his bike, away from the kids.  
The six kids, soon to be fifteen kids.   
  
He sighed as he entered another intersection. Life was  
just going to get more complicated. His eyes widened  
suddenly and he leapt off his bike, a second before a beat up  
red truck rammed into it. The truck swerved to the right and  
crashed into the side of a building, crushing Logan's  
motorcycle between the two.   
  
Landing on top of a street light, Wolverine growled  
loudly, "You just hit the wrong motorcycle, bub!"   
  
His claws popped out of his knuckles before hopping  
off the street light and walking up to the fire covered truck.  
Shoving his claws into the passenger side door, he tore it off  
it's hinges and tossed it aside to find no one inside.   
  
"That's where you're wrong, Wolverine. I hit the right  
bike," a figure spoke from atop the very same street light  
Logan had just been on.   
  
Wolverine sniffed the air and studied the figure  
through slitted eyes. "I recognize your scent. . . but I can't  
place it. Who're you?!"   
  
The wind blew at that moment, rustling the figures  
hair, lifting his pigtail into the air. His eyes glinted from the  
moon light. ^Your executioner.^   
  
The figure leapt off the street light and landing in  
front of Wolverine, kicking him in the head, knocking him  
into the back of the pick up truck. Jumping back, away from  
the truck, the figure flung his hand forward, tossing a small  
green ball at the gas tank.   
  
The red truck erupted, tearing a large section out of  
the wall it had crashed into. Hot metal pieces rained down  
around the figure, landing with mellow clanks and clunks. A  
small ball of fire erupted from the wreck.  
  
Out from the hole in the wall stumbled Wolverine, the  
burn marks on his arms and face already dissolving into  
unharmed flesh. He cracked his neck and slitted his eyes at  
the pigtailed figure. His claws extended again. "Alright, kid,  
lets start this over again," he muttered a jumped at the teen.   
  
The figure dodged Wolverine's first swipe, then the  
second and third before punching Logan in the face, knocking  
him to his hands and feet. The teen sidestepped an upward  
slash and kicked Wolverine in the face, knocking him back.   
The teen jumped back, landing a few feet away from  
Wolverine with his hands crossed behind his back.   
  
Standing back up, Wolverine shook his head,  
muttering, "Alright, lets try that again." He charged the figure  
again feinting left and striking with his right, slashing open  
the teens left shoulder. Taking advantage of his injured  
opponent, Wolverine kicked the teens chest, knocking him  
back a couple steps.   
  
The teen punched with his left arm, making  
Wolverine duck under it. He jumped back, avoiding both of  
Wolverine's claws that were headed for his chest.   
  
"Sorry, Wolverine, ain't gonna be that easy," the  
pigtailed teen said as the three cuts on his shoulder healed  
themselves.   
  
"It's not gonna be to hard either!"   
  
The teen looked to his right just in time to receive a  
optic blast in the chest, throwing him into a brick wall and  
through it.   
  
Nightcrawler teleported behind Wolverine, "You  
okay, Logan?"  
  
"Looked like you needed some help there," Cyclops  
added as he stepped up beside Wolverine.   
  
"How many times do I have to tell you to not fight my  
battles?" Wolverine exclaimed, stalking off toward the hole.  
"And don't call me Logan when we're out in the open! It's  
Wolverine!"  
  
"Yeesh, you'd think after saving a guys life he  
wouldn't be so grumpy," Cyclops complained, looking at  
Nightcrawler, who nodded in reply.   
  
The teen stumbled out of the hole, shirt ripped open  
from the optic blast, his chest burnt but rapidly healing itself.  
^What? Where am I?^ the teen asked, looking around in  
confusion.   
  
Wolverine's head reared back at this and looked at the  
teen oddly.   
  
The pigtailed figure's eyes settle on Wolverine.  
"That's right. Now I remember." He jumped at Wolverine  
again, rearing back his fist but suddenly was stopped in  
midair, inches away from his target.   
  
"That's it, Jean, just hold him in place," Cyclops said  
as he readied another optic blast.   
  
"No!" Wolverine shouted, turning to Cyclops, though  
his action was to late.   
  
Cyclops' optic blast slammed into the teen, launching  
him down the street and into the side of a parked car. The car  
explode on contact, the flames enveloping the teen,  
seemingly swallowing him whole.   
  
"Shadowcat! Get him out of there!" Cyclops shouted,  
pointing at the newly wrecked vehicle.   
  
Kitty nodded and ran to the car, phasing through it  
and the flames twice. She stumbled away from the flaming  
wreck, fanning her face. "He's not in there!"  
  
"What do you mean he's not in there?" Nightcrawler  
exclaimed in confusion.  
  
"He's just not!" Kitty replied grouchily. She didn't  
particularly care for phasing through a fiery wreck, especially  
twice.  
  
"You think the explosion disintegrated him?" Rogue  
asked, watching the blaze intently, in case someone happened  
to pop out.   
  
"No. He's still alive. Come on, we have to get ready,"  
Wolverine replied walking toward the X-Van.   
  
"Ready for what?" Cyclops asked.  
  
"For his return later tonight, of course."  
  
*********  
  
The pigtailed teen breathed deeply as he watched  
Wolverine drive off with the others. They'd interfered with  
his fight. Wolverine had been HIS! He leapt to the roof of the  
building next to the one he was on top of. He'd follow them,  
and attack them at their home. Where it would hurt the most.   
  
*********  
  
"I don't know, Chuck, there was something about that  
kid that reminded me . . ." Logan trailed off. He was sitting  
across from Professor Xavier, Ororo standing behind his  
wheelchair while the rest of the students stood around  
Xavier's office.  
  
"Reminded you of what, Logan?" Ororo asked  
calmly, her left hand resting on the back of Xaviers  
wheelchair.  
  
"Myself," Logan finished quietly.  
  
"What, you mean he was rude? Arrogant?" Cyclops  
asked.  
  
"Mean?" Kitty added  
  
"Impatient," Rogue said.  
  
"Was he pigheaded?" Jean asked innocently, though  
her smile wasn't.  
  
"Don't forget the smell!" Kurt exclaimed.  
  
SNIKT!   
  
Everyone shut up.   
  
Except for Kurt. "I was just keeding about the smell!"   
he exclaimed, porting as far away from Logan as he could.   
  
"Look here, runts! When this guy comes tonight, he's  
MINE!" Logan growled through grit teeth.   
  
"Hey! We were just trying to help!" Scott argued,  
defending his actions earlier that night.  
  
"And how come you get him all to yourself!" Evan  
added annoyingly, "I wanna try and fight this guy too!"  
  
"He destroyed my motorcycle!" Logan retorted,  
popping all his claws out.   
  
"Any ideas as to what you did to piss him off,  
sugah?" Rogue asked curiously, her arms crossed under her  
chest.   
  
"No, but I know and he knows what's been done to  
piss me off!" Logan growled.   
  
"Gosh, could like, a person be anymore grumpy?"  
Kitty asked incredulously.   
  
Kurt shrugged a second before the mansions alarm  
system blared loudly.   
  
"Told you he'd be back," Logan said in response to  
the alarm, then took off down the hall toward the front door.   
  
*********  
  
The pigtailed figure rolled under another laser blast,  
stopping in front of the mounted gun. He punched the gun off  
the mount before back flipping over a flying buzz saw blade.  
A green ball was shot from his hand, hitting the blade,  
causing it to explode. He turned around just in time to see  
another buzz saw blade heading for his middle.   
  
There was a strange noise of metal hitting metal and  
the buzz saw blade split in two down the middle. The two  
sides separated and passed by the figures left and right sides  
harmlessly. "If anything's gonna kill you, it'll be MY claws!"  
Wolverine exclaimed as he jumped the teen.  
  
The two rolled across the ground, before breaking  
apart and jumping away from each other. They charged each  
other, Wolverine swiping at the teens head, the teen dodging  
under it and punching at Wolverine's stomach. Wolverine  
kneed the teen in the face then slashed him across the face,  
cutting three lines over it.   
  
The teen covered his face with his left hand and shot  
his right forward, firing a green blast in Wolverine's general  
direction. As Wolverine leapt above the blast, the teen raised  
his arm, the green colored energy following, catching  
Wolverine in-between the legs. The teen swiped his hand to  
the right, tossing the green energy and Wolverine off to the  
side.   
  
Wolverine landed on Ororo's flowers with a 'crunch',  
the energy impacting behind him, tearing a hole in the  
ground. Looking up, Wolverine groaned, "Ororo's gonna kill  
me . . . if this kid doesn't." He stood up and looked at the  
fully healed face of the teen.   
  
He hadn't had a really opportunity before to look him  
in the face during their previous fight. The teen was Asian,  
Japanese it looked, black hair tied in a ponytail, maybe 5'5,  
and was wearing same clothing he'd been wearing through  
their first encounter. The flannel vest, the same white under  
shirt, though now sporting a massive hole in the chest from  
where the optic blast had hit him. That topped off with a ratty  
pair of jeans.   
  
The Asian teen grinned smugly at Wolverine. Having  
the same healing abilities as your opponent would be  
something to feel smug about. The teen charged Wolverine  
and the two went at it again, kicking, punching, dodging and  
countering each other. The teen jumped back, avoiding a  
swipe of Wolverine's claws, and leapt forward once they'd  
passed.   
  
Unfortunately for the teen, Wolverine had expect his  
counter, and countered it himself. Three of Wolverine's  
claws entered the teens chest, followed soon after by the  
other three. The teen gasped in shock, left eye twitching.   
  
"Oh my god!"   
  
Wolverine looked to the side, for the first time  
noticing that all the residents of Xavier's mansion were  
outside watching. It had been Kitty who had shouted out,  
though all the residents of the mansion had looks of abject  
horror written across their faces. Only Xavier had a calm look  
on his face.   
  
Wolverine screamed in rage as he lifted the teen off  
the ground by his claws. It came as little surprise when the  
teen screamed back and planted both his feet on Wolverine's  
chest before pushing off of the claws.   
  
The teen black flipped away, landing on his hands and  
knees, one hand covering his chest. He grunted as he swatted  
away a dainty hand that had reached for his shoulder. He  
turned in surprise and jumped away, shocked that someone  
had been able to get so close to him.   
  
Kitty fell onto her butt, glaring angrily at the boy  
who'd slapped her hand. She'd only been trying to help.   
  
"Half-pint! Whaddya think you're doing!" Wolverine  
yelled fiercely. "Get outta the way!"  
  
It didn't matter as one of Scott optic blasts slammed  
into the teen, knocking him across the front yard. "Sorry,  
Logan, had to make sure Kitty wouldn't get hurt," he  
explained as he ran up to Kitty.  
  
There was a scream of anger as the teen leapt into the  
air at Scott. As Scott fired another blast, the teen shot one of  
his own. The two blasts slammed into each other, both trying  
to overcome the other. The teen extended his other arm,  
firing another green blast from that hand, hitting the ground  
in front of Scott.   
  
As Scott flew back, the teen moved forward,  
pouncing toward Kitty with his arms extended. He never  
reached her as Kurt ported onto his back, ported the both of  
them in the direction of a tree, and ported off.   
  
The teen crashed face first into the trunk of the tree.  
Placing his hands on the tree, the teen pushed off, flipping  
backwards and landing next to Jean. He swept her legs out  
from under her and jumped away, avoiding one of Evan's  
spikes.  
  
Wolverine tackled him in mid jump, knocking them  
both to the ground. Pinning the teen under him, Wolverine  
brought back hit fist, claws still extended. His first blazed  
forward, aimed at the teens head, but missed as the head  
moved, Wolverine's claws embedding themselves into the  
ground. The teen kneed him in the groin and then head butted  
him, knocking Wolverine off.  
  
He rolled to his right, avoiding another spike, then  
rolled over backwards, avoiding an optic blast from a beaten  
looking Scott. The teen tossed a green ball at Scott, ignoring  
the resulting explosion to kick a charging Kurt in the face. He  
spun around, grabbed an incoming spike out of midair,  
flipped it over in his hand, and threw it back.   
  
He watched the boney spike cut Evan's arm and  
tossed another green ball at him. To the teens surprise, the  
ball stopped in midair.  
  
Jean flung her hand in the teens direction, making the  
green ball fly back at him, slamming the ball into the teens  
chest. There was an explosion, a large dust cloud enveloping  
the body of the teen.   
  
"gott Verdammt(1), my face really hurts," Kurt  
complained as he rubbed his nose.  
  
"Did that get him?" Scott exclaimed as he ran up to  
Jean.   
  
"I hope," Evan grumbled as he held his bleeding arm.   
  
Wolverine walked up to them, followed by Rogue,  
Kitty, Ororo and Professor Xavier, who said, "No, he's still  
conscious."   
  
The dust slowly cleared, revealing the teen to be in  
one piece. The teen stood still, his arms crossed in front of  
him, having blocked his own green ball. Breathing deeply,  
the teen turned his head and looked at them all, resting his  
arms at his sides.   
  
^Wha . . .^ he muttered, blinking weakly and shaking  
his head. "Wolverine!"   
  
"We have to shock him!" Wolverine cried as he leapt  
at the teen.   
  
"What does he mean, 'shock him'? Like, electrocute  
him?" Kitty asked Professor Xavier.  
  
"He's in the same state I was in-" Wolverine cut in,  
ducking under one of the teens kicks, "when we were in  
Canada, twerp!"   
  
"Of course! The boy is in a hypnotic trance. A  
massive injury may just shock him out of it," Professor  
Xavier explained.   
  
"Alright then! Lets-" Cyclops started before a flying  
Wolverine crashed into him, bowling them both over.   
  
"Get him!" Evan finished charging the teen, followed  
by Nightcrawler, and the reluctant duo of Kitty and Rogue.   
  
"I've got an idea!" Jean exclaimed, "Get him near a  
something solid!"  
  
"No problem, mien Freund!" Kurt shouted as he  
teleported onto the teens back. "Gotchaaaa!"   
  
The teen grabbed Kurt by the hair on his head,  
flipping him over his shoulder, and slamming the demon  
looking boy into the ground.   
  
"Catch me once, my mistake! Try it twice, your  
mistake!" the teen mocked before a lightening bolt struck him  
in the chest, electrocuting him and throwing him back a  
couple yards.   
  
"I have had enough of this!" Ororo shouted as she  
floated into the air and raised her arms, heavy gale winds  
suddenly pouring out from seemingly nowhere.  
  
The teen struggled against the winds, trying to walk  
forward, but instead slowly sliding backwards. He received  
an optic blast, knocking him into the air for a good seven  
seconds before crashing heavily into the ground.   
  
The teen stood back up as the winds finally stopped.  
As he shook his head, he first felt a hand touch his neck, then  
a shock, which traveled throughout his body. He spun  
around, smacking Rogue onto the ground. Stumbling for a  
second, he regained his footing and looked down at the  
southern girl. He didn't know what she'd just done, but he'd  
felt slightly weaker from her touch, light headed too.  
  
"Get him now!" Jean shouted, then pointed at a  
nearby tree. "Get him to that tree! Kitty, get ready to phase  
him into it!"  
  
Kitty nodded and headed for the tree.  
  
A screaming Wolverine shoulder rammed the teen,  
knocking him onto his back, though he quickly rolled back to  
his feet. He dodged another spike but was struck by another  
lightening bolt, throwing him back again, a couple feet away  
from the tree. An optic blast finally knocked him into the  
tree, followed by Jean's telekinesis, holding him up against it.  
Finally Kitty grabbed him, phasing through the tree and  
taking him with her, leaving him stuck halfway through it.  
  
"Ahhh! Let me out of here!" the teen raged, pounding  
his fists again the trunk of the tree. He screamed even louder,  
slamming both his fists into the tree at the same time,  
cracking it in half, but not knocking it over.   
  
"Hurry, Professor!" Scott shouted, as he readied  
another optic blast, just in case.   
  
Xavier raised his hands to his temples, closed his eyes  
and began to probe the teens mind.   
  
"What're you . . . doing? Get out of my head!" the  
teen screamed as he pounded on the tree again, this time  
break it apart and freed him. He landed on the ground and  
leapt at Professor Xavier, only to receive an optic blast to his  
side, knocking him to the ground again.   
  
"We have to knock him unconscious! It'd be the best  
way to break him out of his trance!" Xavier cried, "INJURE  
HIM!"  
  
"No problem, Charley!" Wolverine exclaimed,  
tackling the teen and attempted to stab him.   
  
The two rolled across the yard, the teen holding  
Wolverine's hand away from him. When the teen managed to  
roll on top of Wolverine, Xavier shouted, "Evan, strike him  
in the back!"  
  
Without asking questions, Evan extended his arms,  
rapidly firing spikes in Wolverine's and the teens general  
direction. He screamed and covered his eyes, not able to look  
at the results.   
  
The teen cried out in shock as one of Evan's bone  
spikes drove through his lower back, all the way through his  
stomach and out his abdomen, and partly into Wolverine's.  
They both screamed in pain, the teen gasping weakly around  
the massive bone. He pushed himself off of Wolverine,  
whose stomach automatically healed itself.   
  
The teen looked at them all, eyes wide, a line of blood  
trickling down his lip to his chin. He coughed up a wad of  
blood and stumbled forward, the bone sticking all the way  
through him. He reached down and grabbed the spike with  
his right hand. ^Why . . . what did I . . . do?^ he asked softly  
before collapsing into Jeans telekinesis hold.   
  
"Hurry, we must get him to the infirmary!" Xavier  
order.  
  
*********  
  
A few hours later, he awoke in a warm bed,  
surrounded by white walls, hooked up to life support. He  
wasn't alone. Rolling out of the bed, he took up a defensive  
position as he studied the three other occupants of the room.   
  
A bald man in a wheelchair, no threat there. A black  
woman with white hair, little to no possible threat from her.  
A smaller guy with crazy looking hair, pretty buff looking,  
good form, and a ready stance. This guy was a definite threat,  
someone to watch out for, for sure.   
  
^Where the hell am I? Who are you people?^ he  
asked nervously.   
  
The white haired woman said something in replied,  
which he couldn't understand.   
  
^What'd you just say?^ he asked angrily, thinking  
he'd been insulted.   
  
Logan popped his claws. ^Watch yourself, Bub,^ he  
replied in Japanese.   
  
"Logan!" Professor Xavier admonished. "We don't  
want to frighten you," he added telepathically. "Just tell us  
your name and we'll see what we can do for you."   
  
^Are you talking in my head?^ he screamed in fear,  
^Stay outta my head!^  
  
^Hey, kid, we're not gonna hurt you,^ Logan said  
calmly in Japanese.  
  
^Yeah? What's with the claws then? I don't see any  
cans around for you to open,^ he replied incredulously.   
  
The woman with white hair stuck out her hand, which  
held a digital watch.   
  
^Take it,^ Logan said in Japanese.  
  
Giving Logan an odd look, he took the watch and  
slowly put it on. "Happy?" he asked in perfect English.   
  
"Yeah, much better," Logan replied with a grin.  
  
"Yes, for all of us, I'm sure," Xavier said happily.   
  
"What the hell! I . . . I can understand you? How?" he  
asked excitedly.  
  
"The watch allows you to speak and understand  
English, just a little something we had Forge whip up, just in  
case," Ororo replied soothingly. "Apparently, now that you're  
back to your . . . normal self, you've lost your ability to speak  
English."  
  
"I could speak English? I can't speak English, at least  
not with this dodatty that you gave me. And who's Forge?"  
  
"We'll explain later. First of all, what's your name,  
kid?" Logan asked, raising an eyebrow.   
  
"Ranma. Ranma Saotome!" he announced proudly.  
  
"My name is Charles Xavier, and you're at my school  
for the gifted."  
  
"Cripples?"  
  
"No," Logan and Ororo replied at the same time,  
causing Ranma to give them each a strange look.   
  
"This is Logan and Ororo Monroe," Xavier stated.  
  
"Married?"   
  
"No!" Logan and Ororo exclaimed at the same time.   
  
"The name's Logan! Just Logan."   
  
"Well that's nice. Mind explaining what I'm doin'  
here?" Ranma asked.  
  
"We're not quite sure what you are doing here. All we  
know is that you came looking to kill Logan here," Xavier  
explained.  
  
"Kill him? But, I wouldn't! I couldn't! It's . . . I don't  
kill!" he finished severely, glaring at the floor and clenching  
his fists.   
  
"Yeah, well luckily you didn't," Logan said with a  
grin.   
  
"Did I hurt anyone?" he asked quietly.   
  
"Other than some bumps and bruises, no," Ororo  
explained, smirking mirthfully.   
  
Ranma let out a half sigh, smirking to himself for a  
moment before becoming confused, "Wait a minute . . . what  
kinda place is this?"   
  
Xavier and Logan both raised an eyebrow at this.  
  
"I mean . . . what kinda place has a guy with claws  
that stick out of his hands, as well as someone who can talk  
in peoples heads?" Ranma asked bluntly.   
  
"Ohhh!" they replied together.  
  
"Allow ME to explained, Ranma," Ororo started and  
began to describe the whole story of the school and its  
inhabitants.   
  
*********  
  
"So this place is a boarding house . . . for mutants . .  
." Ranma said slowly as they sat inside the Danger Rooms  
control room.  
  
"Yes," Xavier replied.  
  
"And . . . mutants, are people who are . . . more  
evolved than normal humans? And have 'gifts'?" Ranma  
asked.  
  
"Yeah, that's about right," Logan responded.   
  
"Tell us about yourself, Ranma," Ororo said   
encouragingly.  
  
Ranma looked clueless. "I would . . . if I could  
remember anything about myself. Other than my name, I  
can't really remember anything about my past," he explained,  
frowning.   
  
Logan nodded. He understood what the kid was  
talking about, not remembering your life, who exactly you  
were.   
  
"My name . . . and a curse."  
  
"What?" Logan asked gruffly.  
  
"That's all I can remember. My name and that I have  
a curse, but I don't know what it does," Ranma explained  
impassively  
  
"Your mutant power is not a curse, but a gift,  
Ranma," Xavier explained.   
  
Ranma laughed out loud. "I'm not a mutant," he said  
chuckling.  
  
"Get up, boy," Logan said, pulling Ranma off his butt,  
"and come with me."  
  
Letting himself get dragged, Ranma crossed his arms,  
grumbling loudly. He was yanked to his feet in front of a  
mirror. "What? I don't see anything, 'cept for myself. Not a  
terrible thing to look at, if I do say so mysel-OW!" he shouted  
out, covering his now cut open cheek.   
  
Logan retracted his claws. "Watch your cheek."  
  
"Huh? What'd you do that for!" Ranma screamed,  
removing his hand from his cheek and turning to Logan.  
  
"Look at the mirror!" Logan growled loudly, grabbing  
Ranma's head and turning it to look at the mirror.  
  
"Why! What . . . the . . . hell . . .?" Ranma muttered  
weakly as he watched the cut along his cheek quickly reseal  
itself, after only ten seconds. He slowly turned his head and  
looked at Logan, "How did I . . . do that?"   
  
"It's your mutant ability, the ability to heal wounds  
you receive at a much faster rate than the average human.  
Logan here has the same ability. But, unlike Logan, you have  
the ability to manipulate energy and fire it in long blasts as  
well as in the form of balls."  
  
Ranma raised an eyebrow at Professor Xavier.  
"Energy blasts?"  
  
"Yes, from your hands," Xavier replied.  
  
"It's not exactly called energy . . . it's ki. It's my . . .  
soul, essentially. Just, I'm able to withdraw it from my body  
and use it as attacks," as he explained, Ranma formed a ball  
of blue ki in his right hand.   
  
"I wouldn't say this is a mutant ability. It's . . .  
something I think I learned on my own," he finished,  
breaking into laughter and rubbing the back of his head.  
  
"Incredible. I never thought I'd meet someone who  
was able to use ki," Logan said, shaking his head in wonder.   
  
Ranma shrugged his shoulders, waving the ki in his  
hand away. "Ahh, it's nothing big," he said egotistically.  
  
"Yes, but the size of your head is," Ororo commented  
bluntly.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Come, I'll show you where you can sleep tonight,"  
Xavier said.   
  
"Um . . . you think I could get a change of clothes?"  
Ranma asked, fingering the two holes in his white t-shirt.  
"I'm not even sure where I got this."  
  
*********  
  
There was a yawn, followed by a tired, "Mornin',"  
before Scott took a seat across from Ranma.  
  
"Mornin'," Ranma replied, downing his entire cup of  
tea.  
  
Scott blinked behind his red sunglasses, "What the?"  
he shouted, standing up and reaching for his sunglasses.   
  
Ranma jumped out of his chair too, raising his hands  
in front of him defensively, "Whoa! Calm down! Don't  
shoot!" he yelled nervously.  
  
"Gimme a reason why?" Scott asked.  
  
"Uh . . . cause you wouldn't want to blow a hole in  
your kitchen?" Ranma replied lamely.   
  
"That's a pretty good reason . . ." Scott admitted.  
  
"You also wouldn't want to harm your new  
teammate," Professor Xavier added as Ororo wheeled him  
into the room.   
  
"What? You can't be serious, Professor! This guy's  
dangerous!" Scott argued.  
  
"And you're not, eye blaster boy!" Ranma retorted,  
becoming defensive.   
  
"I'm not the one who blew two holes in the front  
yard!" Scott shot back.  
  
"Yeah! Cause you were trying to blow a hole in my  
chest!"   
  
"Stop it! The both of you!" Xavier ordered, "Plans  
have been made to use the two holes in the front yard."  
  
"Yes, I'm planning on planting two trees, in place of  
the one that was destroyed last night," Ororo explained.  
  
Scott mouthed the words 'by you' at Ranma.  
  
Ororo added, "And since you both have such an  
interest in them, you may help me." She smiled sweetly.  
  
"What? That's not fair!" Scott complained, "What did  
I do?"  
  
"No way am I gonna plant any trees with redeyes over  
there!" Ranma added, jerking a thumb in Scott direction.  
  
"Perhaps if you two worked together on something,  
you might find it inside yourselves to get along with one  
another," Xavier announced calmly.   
  
"Aw, man . . ." Scott moaned, "This is your fault!"  
  
"My fault! How is this my fault!" Ranma shouted  
angrily.   
  
"Ranma! Scott!" The two stopped at Xaviers voice,  
"Scott get ready for school!"  
  
"School! Why do I gotta go to school?" Ranma asked  
whiningly.  
  
"You're not going to school, Ranma,"  
  
"Alright!" Ranma cheered, sticking his tongue out at  
Scott.  
  
"Today," Xavier finished.  
  
"Ha!" Scott exclaimed as he strode out of the kitchen.  
  
"Today I'll be showing you around the mansion, and  
you'll go shopping with Ororo for some more clothes.  
Tomorrow," he said firmly, "you'll go to school with the rest  
of the students."   
  
"But I got no reason to go to school!" Ranma whined.  
  
"You need a proper education, Ranma," Xavier  
explained, "Without one, you won't go far in this world.  
That, is why you're going to school."  
  
"Aw, man . . ."  
  
*********  
  
"What!?" the group of teens shouted in unison as they  
sat around the lunch table.  
  
"You heard me," Scott said angrily, "'Ranma' is  
going to be living with us!"  
  
"But he tried to kill us!" Kurt complained ignoring his  
lunch.  
  
"Like, what's the Professor thinking?" Kitty asked  
incredulously. "What if he tries to kill us in our sleep!"  
  
"I'll spike him if he tries anything on me," Evan  
declared firmly.   
  
"You already HAVE spiked him, Evan, and he's still  
alive," Jean retorted, "You guys shouldn't be so closed  
minded. None of us know what he's like. He could be a really  
nice guy," she added, trying to defuse their anger.   
  
"I already know what he's like! He's your classic  
arrogant, macho braggart," Scott explained, "Having talked to  
him this morning, I can tell already that, that's what he's  
gonna be like."  
  
"Sounds great," Rogue said dully around her  
sandwich, "Just what we needed. Another Logan."  
  
"I think he's worse," Scott decided glumly.   
  
"Well, we'll find out when we go home," Jean  
resolved, taking the opposite opinion of Scot t's, as usual.   
  
*********  
  
"Alright, Professor, where is he!" Scott exclaimed,  
bursting into the Danger Room's control room where Xavier,  
Ororo, and Logan were. The rest of the X-men bumped into  
the back of Scott, knocking him over and all of them into a  
pile on the floor.  
  
Scott groaned from beneath teammates as they,  
embarrassed, climbed off of him.   
  
"What Scott meant to ask was 'where's Ranma?'"  
Jean corrected sheepishly.  
  
"Down there," Logan replied bluntly, pointing down  
into the Danger Room.   
  
The teens rushed to the viewing windows and looked  
down. There stood Ranma, wearing his signature red shirt  
and black pants, hair tied in a pigtail. In front of him were  
three Danger Room robots, orange in color and standing a  
good nine feet tall.   
  
"Three! Professor, don't you think that's like to  
much?" Kitty asked anxiously.   
  
"If you watch for yourself, Kitty, you'll see that it's,  
in fact, far from enough," Xavier replied before leaning  
forward and speaking into a microphone, "You may begin,  
Ranma."  
  
Ororo pushed a few button's on the side panel, "All  
set, Professor," she said.  
  
"Here we go," Xavier said as he and everyone else  
looked down at Ranma.  
  
*********  
  
He stood with his eyes closed. He'd been in the  
Danger Room for over two hours now, taking advantage of  
the training he could get from it. The Professor had said that  
the room would measure his abilities as a fighter, how strong,  
fast, and powerful he was, as well as how long his stamina  
would hold out.   
  
"You may begin, Ranma," he heard the Professor say  
over the loud speaker.   
  
Opening his eyes, Ranma studied the three robots in  
front of him. Though tall and made of metal, and probably  
incredibly strong, they definitely weren't fast. "This isn't  
much of a challenge, Professor," he complained.  
  
"Well this will be the last test for today, the rest of the  
students are home, and I'd like for you to meet them," the  
Professor explained.  
  
"Is laser eyes up there?" he asked happily.  
  
"Yes, Scott is up here," Xavier replied.  
  
"Good, he can watch this and be impressed," Ranma  
stated arrogantly, making all the younger X-men look at each  
other in disbelief.   
  
As the three robots approached, slowly as he had  
predicted, Ranma started laughing out loud. "This really is to  
easy!" he shouted jumping forward.   
  
Both of his fists smashed into the first two robots  
chests. He raised his legs and put them on the robots metal  
knees to holds himself against them. "Double Moko  
Takabisha!" he screamed, firing two ki blasts with both his  
hands.   
  
The force of the blasts blew the robots off his fists  
and threw him backwards into the air. He flipped around in  
midair and landed on his feet the same time the two robots  
crashed to the Danger Room floor.  
  
The last robot got up close and swung at his head, but  
he ducked under it easily and did a couple back flips to get  
some distance between them. Stopping a good fifteen feet  
away from the robot, he cupped his hands down at his hip  
where they began to fill with blue ki.   
  
Soon enough, the blue ki overlapped his hands,  
making them disappear inside the ball. "Moko Takabisha!"  
Ranma roared, throwing the beach ball sized orb of ki  
forward. The ball of ki drove itself into the chest of the robot,  
engulfing it in light before the ki exploded, taking the robot  
with it.   
  
*********  
  
"Whoa! That was like, totally amazing!" Kitty gushed  
as Ranma walked out of the Danger Room, toweling off his  
face.  
  
He finished wiping the sweat off his face, and looking  
at Kitty, gave his signature Saotome grin without realizing it.  
"Ah, that was nothin'"   
  
Kitty blushed openly, hiding her face behind her  
hands.  
  
Rogue blushed too, just not as bad, or as open.  
  
Jean mentally admitted to herself that he was a pretty  
good looking guy.  
  
Scott glared at him from behind his red sunglasses.  
  
Kurt stared in awe.   
  
Evan crossed his arms and acted unimpressed.   
  
"So, Ranma, what do you think of our Danger  
Room," Xavier asked as Ororo wheeled him up to the group,  
Logan trailing a couple steps behind.  
  
"It's great, Professor! Real good work out machine  
you got there," Ranma replied energetically. "Can't wait to  
do it again."  
  
"Well, Ranma, before you do, I'd like to introduce  
you to your new house mates," Xavier said, then began, "I  
believe you've already met Scott Summer, also known as  
Cyclops."  
  
Sighing under his breath, Scott walked up to Ranma  
and extended his hand. He watched Ranma's face change  
from annoyance to acceptance, before the pigtailed teen  
bowed slightly at the waist. Raising an eyebrow behind his  
sunglasses, Scott shrugged his shoulders and bowed at his  
waist, before backing up again.  
  
"This is Jean Grey," Xavier explained introducing  
said girl.  
  
"Hi, pleased to meet you," Jean said, having walked  
forward, smiling sweetly.  
  
Ranma blinked in confusion. He could swear he had  
heard that voice before. It sounded so familiar to him. "Have  
we met before?" he asked curiously.  
  
"Other than last night, I don't think so," she replied  
smiling.  
  
"Oh. Ok. Pleased to meet you too, Ms. Grey," he  
finally said pleasantly, bowing to her as well. Since she was  
being polite he figured he should be too.   
  
"The blue one here, is Kurt Wagner," Xavier said  
presenting Nightcrawler with a smile.  
  
Porting in front of Ranma, Kurt spouted, "What you  
did in there was totally awesome, mein freund!" He grabbed  
Ranma's hand and shook it fiercely.   
  
"Ahh. . . Thanks, I think," Ranma said looking the  
blue demon looking boy over. For some reason, seeing him  
really didn't bother him all that much.   
  
"You have GOT to teach me how to fight like you!"  
Kurt added in excitement.  
  
"Um . . . sure, I guess," Ranma added, rubbing the  
back of his head.   
  
"Excellent!"   
  
Xavier spoke up, "NEXT, we have Katherine Pryde."  
  
The small, brown haired teen demurely walked up to  
Ranma, blushing slightly as she did. "Hi. You can call-I mean  
everyone calls me Kitty, like the cat."  
  
Ranma flinched, though he didn't quite know why.  
"Ki-Kitty?" he repeated nervously.  
  
"Yeah, Kitty," she replied smiling.  
  
"Uh, ok, ni-nice to meet you," Ranma said fidgeting,  
looking down at the floor. He didn't understand why, but just  
hearing her name made him flinch involuntarily. He shook  
his head and laughed at himself, thinking foolishly to himself  
that he wasn't scared of anything, specially a name.   
  
"The young man over there is Evan Daniels," Xavier  
cut in, sensing the fear radiating off of Ranma.  
  
"Hey," Evan said simply, then added as an after  
thought, "You always showoff like that?"  
  
"I like to make my first impressions good," Ranma  
replied, grinning cocky, and discounting the fact that his first  
impression with Scott was a bad one.   
  
Not only that, but he couldn't remember the fact that  
most of his past first impressions, Akane, Ryouga, Shampoo,  
were bad ones. He just wasn't a first impressions guy. Not  
that he could remember though.   
  
"And last, but certainly not least, Rogue," Xavier  
finished, smiling widely.  
  
"Nice ta meetcha," Rogue said with a little  
enthusiasm, giving Ranma a little smile.   
  
"Your name's Rogue?" Ranma asked in confusion.  
  
"Yeah, just like my name's Logan," Logan replied.  
"We're one named loners."  
  
"Hey! Speak for yerself!" Rogue retorted, placing her  
hands on her hips.  
  
"So you're name's just Rogue, and that's it?" Ranma  
asked, still confused.  
  
"Yeah, that's right," Rogue responded, looking at  
Ranma through half lidded eyes.  
  
"Why don't you have a last name?" Ranma asked.  
  
Logan put his hand on Ranma's head. "Some things  
are better left unasked," he said.  
  
Ranma frowned, "Get your hand off my head!" he  
grumped, slapping at Logan's arm. For some reason he didn't  
like the feeling of someone's hand on his head. He felt  
belittled, like a young kid who'd didn't understand. Not that  
he did understand, but still.  
  
"What kinda name is, Ranma?" Rogue enquired  
bluntly.  
  
"Ranma's a great name! Anyone would give their left  
leg to have my name!" Ranma replied defensively, feeling  
slightly insulted.  
  
All the students looked at each other with incredulous  
faces.   
  
"Well they would! Come on! Ranma Saotome! Who  
wouldn't want that name?" Ranma insisted, getting upset at  
their blank stares and storming off, muttering, "Yeesh, you'd  
think these people had never heard a good name before."  
  
The room went quiet.  
  
"He's . . . quite a character, Professor," Jean  
commented, killing the awkward silence.   
  
"Yes he is, Jean. But there's something you all should  
know about, Ranma," Xavier continued, catching the  
attention of all the X-Men.  
  
"What's that, Professor?" Scott asked.  
  
"He can't remember his past. Who he was, where he's  
from exactly. He can only remember a few things about  
himself. Otherwise, he's another Logan with his memories,"  
Xavier explained, "Just so you know."  
  
"Thanks, Professor."  
  
*********  
  
Ranma lay wide awake in his bed, thinking about his  
new home. New house mates. And tomorrow, a new school.   
  
But that was the thing. He couldn't remember if he'd  
ever had a home, house mates, or even went to school before.  
He hardly even knew who he was, let alone what he'd done  
before he'd lost his memory.   
  
He could only start to remember with what he had to  
go off of. He knew his name was Ranma Saotome, that he  
hadn't forgotten. He figured he was from Japan, as it seemed  
only logical that he would be. A curse, he knew he had one,  
but couldn't remember what it was, what it did.   
  
What else did he know about himself, wasn't much.  
There had to be something with the name Kitty. Or maybe it  
was cat. He shuddered slightly and without warning at the  
thought. Why was he afraid of such a harmless name?  
Animal? How could he be afraid of such a stupid thing? It  
was ridiculous! He felt like a coward and that annoyed him to  
such a great length, he wanted to go out and show the whole  
world how fearless he was.   
  
As he lay, he slammed both his fists into the bed  
beside him. He was getting a headache just thinking about it.  
"I need to practice," he muttered and rolled out of bed, and  
onto his feet.   
  
His room was massive, full of free space, seeing as he  
didn't own anything to fill it up with. He figured it was  
around fifteen by fifteen just be look around. Though he  
didn't really know his measurements that well, so his guess  
could've been completely off from the real size.   
  
The good thing about it was that he had a lot of room  
to do his kata's. He stretched out his muscles and started his  
kata, attempting to clear his head of his lost thoughts,  
especially those about going to school the next day.   
  
*********  
  
"Rise and shine, dude! Gotta get ready for your first  
day of . . . Whoa! That is SO cool!" Kurt exclaimed as he  
opened the door to Ranma's room.   
  
It wasn't enough to wake Ranma though, who was  
sleeping on the floor Indian-style, upside down and balancing  
on his head though.   
  
"You've GOT to show me how to do that!" Kurt  
added after teleporting up close to Ranma. "Ranma?  
Ranma?" He poked the upside down boy with his tail.   
  
Ranma wiggled his nose but didn't awake.  
  
Blinking, Kurt tried again, poking Ranma's knee.  
  
Said boy teetered the opposite way before tipping  
over and landing on his side. Startled, Ranma rolled over  
onto his feet, taking a defensive position. He looked at the  
blue fur covered boy, who was now weakly standing in his  
own defensive position, and relaxed.   
  
"Thought you were someone else," Ranma said,  
calming Kurt's nerves.  
  
"Who, mein friend?" Kurt asked curiously.  
  
"I don't know . . ." Ranma said blankly.   
  
Remaining silent for a couple seconds, Kurt decided  
he best say something. "Breakfast is probably ready."  
  
Ranma's eyes lit up.  
  
"But . . . maybe you should put some more clothes on,  
yeah?" Kurt added, referring to Ranma's undershirt and  
boxers sleeping clothes.   
  
Next Time: School Daze  
Ranma goes to Bayville High for the first time, much to his  
chagrin. How'll he manage being in a place he's never been,  
with people he doesn't know, and without the ability to read  
English!  
  
Authors Notes: I'm skipping over the Cauldron episodes  
simply because I didn't like them that much, and I'm starting  
right before the beginning of season 2, 'Growing Pains'  
  
(1) gott Verdammt is German for 'God damn!' 


	3. Chapter 2: Language Barriers

Disclaimer: I don't own either Ranma ½ or X-Men Evolution. I wish I owned one of them. 

Ranma's Evolution  
Ranma ½ / X-Men Evolution Crossover  
By Hawk

Note: This chapter takes place a couple days before 'Growing  
Pains'. I also changed the title of this chapter, and there's nothing  
you can do about it! Nothing!

"English"

_"__Japanese_"

Chapter 2: Language Barriers

Sitting outside the mansions front doors, Ranma  
wondered how he was supposed to get to school. Not that he  
wanted to, but the Professor would probably be upset if he  
missed his first day. Scott had left already, as well as Jean, the  
only two kids who knew how to drive.

He'd run to school, if he knew where it was. Instead he  
sat on the front steps and readjusted the straps of his backpack,  
thinking about how much trouble he was going to get into.

He blinked as he heard a rumble from around the corner  
of the house and looked in the direction it was coming from.  
Logan rolled up to him in a jeep made for off road driving. "Need  
a lift?"

Ranma grinned in thanks and stood up off of the front  
steps, once again readjusting his backpack before he opened the  
car door.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ranma walked through the school hall looking blankly at  
the piece of paper in his hand. The Principle, Mr. Kelly, who was  
apparently brand new as well, had given him the paper, telling him  
it had all of his classes listed, what rooms, what times and what  
teachers. Made sense to Ranma, he'd been through the situation  
before.

The only problem was that he couldn't read it. He could  
speak and understand people speaking English, but he still  
couldn't read it. He got the feeling he wasn't the brightest student  
at his old school. If he'd ever gone to school before, of course.  
The only thing he could understand on the paper were the  
numbers, but even then, what the hell did 'R-O-O-M' mean?  
Though he understood the numbers, he didn't know what they  
were referring to.

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the second class  
of the day. The hallways immediately filled with students, chatting  
loudly, anxious to enjoy their 20 minute long break from learning.  
Two students bumped into his shoulder, knocking him to the side,  
and into a locker. The two apologized as they walked away.

He pressed his back against the row of lockers, trying to  
get out of the other students way. His eyes widened and zipped  
back and forth, trying to take in every teenager that walked past.  
Though his watch helped to translate what they said, it didn't  
seem to have the ability to translate the mass amounts of English  
speech traversing through the hallway.

It passed in and out of English and Japanese. He would  
hear the English revert to Japanese, then back to English, and it  
made his head pound. He put his hands over his ears, hoping to  
silence the scrambled speaking. His breathing quickened,  
becoming slightly rasping.

A small hand grabbed his shoulder, and he spun out of  
the grip, smacking the arm away. A girl he didn't know looked at  
him oddly, shaking her arm.

"Your refnighing tu locker," the girl said.

Ranma gave her a blank look. Was she saying this was  
his locker? How would she know that?

"Can fu move?" she asked, raising her eyebrows at him.

That Ranma understood. He nodded his head quickly  
and stepped to the side, watching the as the girl stepped up to the  
locker and opened it. 'She's opening my locker?' He peered  
over the girls shoulder and into the locker.

'Why is if full of books, and random pictures of guys?'  
Ranma made a face at the contents. 'I hope this isn't my locker,  
yeesh. . .'

Reaching over the girls shoulder, he pulled one of the  
books from inside and looked at the cover. He scratched his  
head. What was B-I-O-L-O-G-Y?

The book was torn from his hands, and the girl was  
yelling at him, but he couldn't really make any of it out. 'She  
looks pretty pissed. . .'

"Calm down, you ugly tomboy, you look like a tomato!"  
Ranma exclaimed, hoping to make the girl stop yelling at him.

Instead of quieting the girl, she seemed to get angrier, and  
started yelling louder, pointing and gesturing. People around them  
were starting to stare and point as well. He still couldn't  
understand what was being said. Looking down at the translator  
watch, Ranma flicked it with his finger hoping to make it work  
better.

He was suddenly pushed from his side, and he stumbled,  
surprised by the sudden attack. Glancing quickly at his assailant,  
Ranma took in the tall, blonde boy, wearing a red jacket. He had  
a smug smile on his face, as if he knew something Ranma didn't  
know.

Collecting his balance, Ranma turned his full attention to  
the taller boy. "What's your problem, huh?" he asked, hoping the  
translator was working correctly.

"You're my problem now, pal," the taller boy stated,  
trying to look tough.

No one else was talking, only watching, which explained  
why Ranma could make out what the boy had said. He looked  
the other boy over and nearly laugh out loud at what he saw. The  
taller boy was not a fighter at all. He had some muscle, but clearly  
had no idea how to use them right.

Shaking his head, Ranma turned his back on the blonde  
boy. "You're not worth my time."

Sidestepping, Ranma easily avoided the punch aimed at  
the back of his head. He reached up, grabbing the offending arm  
and twisted it, dropping the blonde boy to his knees quickly. He  
put pressure on the arm, almost snapping it.

"You cowardly piece of shit! Attacking someone when  
they have their back turned, what kind of person are you?"  
Ranma growled in his ear.

"Ranma!" a voice all too familiar called out.

He looked up at the approaching redhead, and released  
the arm he was twisting.

"What's going on here?" Jean asked, as Duncan rose to  
his feet.

"He attacked me!"

Jean looked at Ranma. "You attacked Duncan?"

Ranma shook his head. "No! He attacked me!" he  
exclaimed.

"You saw it, Jean! He was twisting my arm! He was  
going to break it!" Duncan shouted.

"You liar!"

"Can anyone tell me what happened here?" Jean asked  
the surrounding crowd.

No one said anything, instead glancing around at one  
another.

"You're going to believe this strange Asian guy over me,  
Jean?" Duncan asked, incredulously.

"The name's Ranma Saotome, pal," Ranma growled.  
"And why should she believe you, huh?"

"Because I'm her boyfriend," Duncan retorted.

Ranma looked at Jean in surprise. "This idiot is your  
boyfriend?" The surrounding crowd shared a laugh. It wasn't  
every day that Duncan Matthews got insulted so openly,  
especially to his face.

"You could do way better," Ranma added, shaking his  
head.

Jean blushed slightly at the implied compliment, but didn't  
let it faze her too much.

"Say that again," Duncan said, standing up to Ranma, and  
looking down on the pigtailed teen.

"That you're an idiot or that Ms. Grey can do better?"  
Ranma asked, confused.

Duncan's face turned as red as his jacket. "Ms. Grey?  
How does this guy know you, Jean?"

"She and I are livin' together," Ranma cut-in. He blinked,  
and shook his head. 'Why does it feel like I've been through this  
before?'

"What? Jean, who is this guy?" Duncan asked.

"What's going on?" Scott enquired after pushing his way  
through the surrounding crowd and stopping beside Ranma.

Jean spared Scott a short glance. "He's a foreign  
exchange student, Duncan, he's just a little confused. Just layoff  
him, alright?" she lied, grabbing Duncan's arm, and smiling  
sweetly.

"Alright, alright, I'll let it go, but only because you asked  
me to, hun," Duncan said, smiling back at Jean.

"God, I think I'm gonna hurl," Ranma muttered.

"I think you and I should remember this as the first  
time we agree about something, Ranma," Scott added.

"Likely the last, sun hater," Ranma replied.

Scott glared at Ranma from behind his sunglasses.

"Look, can we go outside, it's a little too cramped in here  
for me," Ranma pleaded lightly.

Sensing that Ranma was indeed uncomfortable, Scott  
grabbed his shoulder and led him through the crowd and down  
the hallway. They walked out the front doors of the school into  
the fresh air, and Ranma inhaled deeply.

"Thanks. . . shades," Ranma muttered, with a slight  
grimace.

"No problem, shorty," Scott retorted. "So you wanna tell  
me what happened in there?"

"Eh, I don't know, some girl was showing me my locker,  
and she got mad at me, and then that Duncan guy shoved me,"  
Ranma explained with a shrugged. He shook his wrist that had  
the translator watch. "And this thing wasn't workin' or somethin'.  
It kept going in and out. Was giving me a headache."

"Hm, we'll get Forge to look into it, and don't worry  
about that Duncan guy. He's just an ass," Scott explained.

"Then why does Ms. Grey go out with him?" Ranma  
asked, dumbfounded.

"Cause she's just. . . stupid," Scott mumbled, obviously  
annoyed.

"Yeah, Duncan's a grade A jerk," Kitty said as she  
walked up to the two boys.

"Hey, Kitty," Scott replied, looking over his shoulder at  
the younger girl.

"Hey, guys. How's it going? Things going ok, Ranma?"  
she asked, looking up at him.

"I dunno. I don't think I'm made out for school," Ranma  
muttered, rubbing the back of his head embarrassed.

"Why's that?" a strange boy wondered, as he walked up  
to the other three.

Ranma glanced at the new kid. "Uh. . . hi? Have we  
met?" he asked.

"Oh! Ha, it's me, Kurt!" the teleporting mutant replied  
sheepishly.

"Why don't you look. . . like you?" Ranma scratched  
the back of his head.

"You know that watch that you have?" Scott started and  
Ranma nodded. "Well Kurt has a watch that can hide his true  
form with an illusion."

"Ooh, cool! That's amazing! I didn't even recognize  
you!" Ranma exclaimed.

Kurt grinned. "Yeah, it words Wunders, mein Freund. So  
why do you think you're not made out for school?"

"He got into a fight with Duncan just a couple minutes  
ago," Scott explained.

"First day and already getting into a fight?" Kitty asked.

"That jerk started it. And this stupid watch isn't helping.  
Sure I can speak and understand English because of it, but I still  
can't read it," Ranma explained, pulling out his class schedule. "I  
have no clue what this says!" He crumpled up the paper into a  
ball and chucked it aside in frustration.

"I hate this school already, I can't read any of the damn  
words, and I don't feel like I belong here!" Ranma continued.

"Ranma, it's not-"

"Don't even bother!" Ranma cut in, annoyance growing.  
He turned and stalked away a few steps before stopping and  
looking at them again. "Oh, and thanks for the 'ride' this  
morning," he bit out sarcastically.

The three winced, Scott the most. It had been his idea to  
leave without Ranma, knowing that Jean had gotten a ride with  
Duncan that morning.

Kitty walked over and picked up Ranma's crumpled  
class schedule. She flattened it out as best she could and looked  
it over with a frown.

Kurt stuffed his hands in his pockets and said nothing. He  
thought he and Ranma might have something in common, what  
with both of them being from different countries, but he knew at  
least how to speak, read and understand English on his own.  
Ranma was clueless, in more than one way. The teen  
remembered nothing of his past, of who he was, what his  
childhood was like, how he had gotten to America. Right now,  
nothing made sense to Ranma.

"We should find him, yeah?" Kurt asked, looking at Kitty  
and Scott.

"Yeah, we better hurry, before break ends," Scott  
replied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What's the mattah, sugah?"

Ranma looked over his shoulder, taking note of the girl  
known as Rogue. She was gazing at him in confusion, an  
eyebrow raised.

"Where ya headin' off to by yourself?" she asked.

"Felt like bein' alone, that a problem?" Ranma retorted.

Rogue shook her head. "No. No problem. I know the  
feelin'."

"Good, then you can you do me a favor?"

"What's that, Ranma?"

"Tell everyone 'thanks but no thanks. I'm grateful for all  
the help and what not, but this ain't gonna work out,'" Ranma  
explained, shaking his head.

"Wh-what?" Rogue stuttered, surprised by Ranma's  
proclamation.

Ranma gave her a backhanded wave and quickly leapt  
away.

Rogue stared, shocked, at the spot where Ranma had  
been standing just a moment before.

"Rogue!"  
She recognized the voice immediately, and looked back  
at Scott, Kitty and Kurt.

"Uh, Scott?" she muttered, about to explain what had just  
happened.

"Have you seen Ranma?" he asked urgently.

"Uh. . . ya. . . he's gone," she said weakly.

"Gone? Where'd he go?" Kitty enquired.

"I don't know. . . but. . . he's gone. For good," Rogue  
explained, then attempted to repeat what Ranma had just told her  
to say. "He said 'thanks but no thanks. I'm grateful for all the  
help, but this ain't gonna work out."

"Damnit! Which way did he go?" Scott looked around  
quickly, hoping to catch sight of the pigtailed boy.

"I dunno, he just jumped and was gone." For some  
reason she couldn't explain, Rogue felt unhappy at Ranma's  
sudden departure. She hadn't gotten the chance to really know  
him and suddenly felt like she might never get it.

"We have to inform the Professor," Scott said and  
looked at Kurt. "Kurt?"

Kurt nodded. "I'm on it!" he exclaimed before glancing  
around for witnesses and porting away.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ranma walked slowly down the busy New York street,  
warily eyeing all the strangers. He was a foreigner in a foreign  
land, and he had to find a way back to Japan. When he got there,  
then maybe he would be able to find out something about his  
past. 'Easier said than done, unfortunately.'

Though unnerved by the massive amounts of people  
walking around him, Ranma easily slipped in and out of the  
crowd, briefly considering jumping to the top of one of the  
buildings to get a better view of the streets. He had axed that idea  
after seeing some weird guy in red spandex swing by on what  
looked like white rope.

He had taken off his translator watch, pocketing it, so to  
avoid the headache of having to listen to thousands of people  
talking, and the little wrist machine trying to process them all.  
Instead he walked, lost as to where he was, no idea what anyone  
was saying, and clueless as to how to get back to Japan. Though  
something was also telling him that he should head North, to  
Canada, but he didn't really know why he would have any  
business there.

Someone shouted at him, and he turned to look at a man  
waving a strange object in his face. It smelled really good, and his  
stomach growled loudly. He smiled at the man and grabbed for  
the object, but the man pulled it back and said something again.

Ranma scratched his head and shrugged his shoulders to  
show he didn't understand. The man gestured to some numbers  
on the side of his cart and Ranma assumed that the man was  
asking for payment. Sticking his hands into his pockets, Ranma  
came up empty handed, frowning in disappointment. The man  
turned away from Ranma and started waving the object at other  
people.

A foreigner in a foreign land with o foreign money.

A woman screamed beside him, and he flinched  
momentarily at the sudden loud noise. Sparing a quick glance, he  
eyed a woman nearby pointing and yelling at another man, who  
was running down the street, a purse clutched in his hands.

Though Ranma was in a different land, and wasn't the  
brightest bulb in the box, a screaming woman, and a man running  
with a purse could easily be considered an international sign:  
purse thief.

Hopping into the air, Ranma landed on the head of a  
nearby pedestrian and, using it has a springboard, jumped after  
the purse snatcher. He was quickly in front of the man and stuck  
out his arm, clotheslining the thief who proceeded to flip violently  
and land hard on his stomach. Lifting his foot, Ranma stepped on  
the back of the mans neck, pinning him to the sidewalk.

Ranma blinked and looked at the assembled crowd  
around him as they all clapped and cheered for him. He grinned  
and gave them all a thumbs up. Someone patted him on the  
shoulder, and another person grabbed his arm, giving it a  
congratulatory shake.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Ranma blushed at the  
sudden amount of attention he was receiving. The woman ran up  
to him quickly, wrapping him in a tight, yet brief hug. She shook  
his hand, smiling happily, rambling like crazy words he couldn't  
comprehend. He reached down and grabbed her purse,  
wordlessly handing it to her, smiling widely.

She grabbed her purse, hugging it to her chest tightly, and  
again shook his hand. More people were patting his back, or  
grabbing his arms and shaking him. The woman smiled at him  
again, and he smiled back.

It felt good, doing what he did, stopping the thief and  
rescuing the woman's purse. The attention he was receiving was  
an added bonus to how nice it felt doing the good deed.

He blinked in confusion as the woman reached into her  
purse and pulled out some green paper. She held out the paper  
for him to take. Realizing it was money, Ranma shook his head  
and hands, before pushing the money back toward her, refusing  
the offer. He bowed to the woman for her generosity.

Feeling the man begin to struggle under his foot, Ranma  
bent over and punched him in the back, hitting a particularly  
painful pressure point. The man tensed and reached to his back,  
screaming in pain. He stepped off the mans neck and reached  
down, grabbing the thief's collar, yanking him to his feet.

Turning the man to face the woman, Ranma shook him,  
and twisted his arm behind his back. The man bowed his head,  
crying, repeating the same words over and over, which Ranma  
hoped were an apology.

Seeing that the man had apparently apologized to the  
lady, Ranma spun him around, and looked him in the eyes. The  
man's eyes filled with fear and Ranma smiled reassuringly. . .  
before head butting the man, knocking him unconscious.

Dropping the man unceremoniously, Ranma once again  
bowed to the woman before turning and making his way through  
the group of onlookers who parted, all gaping or staring in awe.

"_You really think you're not cut out for this?_" a gruff  
voice asked in Japanese.

Ranma frowned. _"How'd you find me?_"

"_We have our ways._" Logan crossed his arms, thumbing  
his nose.

"_Well, good for you. Planning on draggin' me back to the  
Professor?_" Ranma replied, mimicking Logan's stance.

Logan ignored his question. "_So where ya headed?_" he  
asked instead.

Ranma shrugged. "_I dunno. Japan. Canada. Away from  
here._"

_"How were you planning on making it to Japan? Gonna  
swim?_"

Chuckling, Ranma grinned. _"Possibly. For some reason,  
that doesn't seem too impossible._"

Someone walked past, patting Ranma on the shoulder,  
but he ignored it.

_"You hungry, kid?_" Logan asked abruptly.

_"Starving._"

Logan placed a hand on Ranma's shoulder. "_Lets get  
something to eat._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Scotts jeep pulled up to the parking garage, slowing to a  
stop. The five mutants, Scott, Kitty, Kurt, Evan and Rogue,  
climbed out and trudged into the house. After porting back to the  
mansion, Kurt had informed Logan of Ranma running away. He  
had been bluntly told to return to school, and that the situation  
would be taken care of. It had been three hours since then.

They had since not heard back from Logan, Ororo or the  
Professor as to what was happening. Entering the main hall, they  
glanced around, spotting no one.

"So what now?" Kitty asked.

Scott shoved his hands in his pockets. He still didn't  
particularly like Ranma by any means, and didn't really care if he  
returned or not. He did care if Ranma ended up with the  
Brotherhood and returned as their enemy though. It was better to  
have a jerk like Ranma with you, than have a jerk like Ranma  
fighting against you.

"We talk to the Professor, find out what's going on,"  
Scott replied. "For all we know, Ranma could be back in the  
mansion already, but our best bet to find anything out is to ask the  
Professor."

The others nodded and the five made their way to the  
Professor's office. They knocked, and upon Professor Xavier's  
reply of 'Enter', the five walked into the office.

Sitting behind his desk, Professor Xavier smiled as his  
students entered. "Come to inquire about Ranma?" he asked with  
a slight frown.

Scott nodded, taking in the Professors expression. "He  
hasn't come back, has he?"

Professor Xavier shook his head. "Sadly, he hasn't. I've  
been trying to get in touch with Logan for the past two and a half  
hours, but he hasn't responded."

The five students looked at one another before Rogue  
spoke, "Do you know if he's found Ranma at least, Professah?"

The Professor again shook his head. "No, I don't know  
for sure whether or not Logan has found Ranma, but I would  
wager a bet that if he hasn't already found him, he is on his trail."

"Thanks, Professor," Scott muttered.

"Don't worry, I will inform you all as to when Logan  
returns, with or without Ranma," Professor Xavier explained, and  
the group of teens turned to leave. "And one more thing."

The five turned back to the Professor.

"You are worrying about someone who so recently was  
your enemy, and in doing so you display an amount a maturity  
that makes me proud to say you're my students."

The five students had the decency to look embarrassed  
as they shuffled out of the room. Entering the main hall once  
again, they all turned to the front door, as the handle turned and it  
swung open.

Jean Grey stepped through, and took note of the others  
downcast expressions at her appearance. "Well gee, I'm happy  
to see you guys too."

"Sorry, Jean, we were just hoping you were someone  
else," Kitty explained.

"Well that makes it better," Jean muttered. "What's going  
on?"

"Ranma ran off, and Logan went after him," Scott  
explained. "Logan hasn't come back yet though, so we don't  
know what's going on."

"Have you talked to the Professor yet?" Jean asked,  
suddenly alert.

"Yeah, he said he hasn't been able to get in touch with  
either of them. He's in the dark just like us," Scott replied,  
shoving his hands into his pockets. "Not that I like him or  
anything. He was a total jerk, but I'd rather have him on our side  
than on someone else's, you know?"

"Yeah, he seemed way too full of himself," Evan added,  
crossing his arms over his chest.

The three girls and Kurt frowned.

"I was liking him. He was very cool!" Kurt said in  
Ranma's defense. "He was going to help me with the ladies, I just  
know it!"

Everyone shook their heads.

"I don't think anyone could help you with the ladies,  
Kurt," Kitty mumbled.

Kurt frowned as everyone laughed.

"Oh, I think I could help him."

The six mutant teens blinked and turned to the voice.  
Ranma stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest,  
looking as smug as ever. The watch translator was back on his  
wrist. Logan stood behind him, grinning, arms crossed as well.

"How long have you been standing there?" Scott asked,  
surprised that none of them had heard their entrance.

"Long enough to know how much you care about me,  
bright eyes," Ranma retorted with false sweetness.

Scott glared at Ranma behind his sunglasses. "Well, it's  
true, you are a jerk, shrimp."

"How'd you open the door without us hearing you?  
Were you spying on us?" Jean asked suspiciously.

"Whoever came in here last left the door open," Ranma  
shrugged, and Jean had the decency to blush.

"All I did was walk up and hear what you guys were  
talking about. If I were purposely spying, you guys made it pretty  
easy for me to do so," he added before Logan pushed him in the  
back and further into the mansion.

"Get in there, kid," Logan muttered, and closed the door  
behind them. "I gotta go see the Professor. Go get yourself  
situated again."

Ranma slid his hands into his pockets and grin at Logan  
as the short man walked away. He turned back to the six others  
and frowned. "Hey, um. . . I'm not so good with words and what  
not, so I'm just gonna say. . . I'm sorry if I made any of you guys  
worry."

The assembled six smiled back at him, the three girls  
blushing faintly at his sudden modesty.

"It's no problem, Ranma," Scott said for them all.  
"You're one of us now, we gotta look out for each other."

Ranma raised an eyebrow at Scott. "Who said I was  
saying sorry to you? I know you weren't worried about me,  
zipper zapper."

Scott glared. "I don't like you, shorty," he said bluntly.

Ranma grinned. "But like you said, I'm one of you guys  
now. So I guess you're gonna have to grow to like me, eh?" he  
replied and walked up the stairs and out of sight.

Scott sighed.

"You guys are such good friends!" Jean teased, smiling  
evilly at Scott.

"The best of friends!" Kitty gushed jokingly.

"Why can't we be friends like that, Scott?" Kurt asked,  
looking hurt.

Scott sighed. "I don't like you guys either," he said,  
though his lips drew up in small grin.

The others laughed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So. . ." Professor Xavier started, his fingers steepled  
together in front of his face. "Do you mind telling me how you  
convinced Ranma to return?"

"Didn't you know that I'm an excellent speaker?"

Professor Xavier raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Ok, so maybe I'm not so great, but I have my ways," he  
muttered with a sheepish shrug.

"Care to tell me of these 'ways'?"

Logan looked thoughtful for a moment, as if he were  
going to refuse. "I guess. . . I can. . . if it means that much to you,  
Chuck."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Three hours earlier:

Ranma and Logan sat across from one another inside a  
small deli, their drinks and food ordered. Nothing else had been  
said between the two of them since Logan last suggested getting  
something to eat.

Ranma stared out the nearby window at the bustling  
people, and honking traffic. It was loud, and he didn't like it. It all  
gave him a headache, mainly because he understood none of it.

_"So what? You gonna drag me back to the mansion or  
what?"_ Ranma asked, not looking away from the window.

Logan snorted, and pulled out a cigar. He put it in his  
mouth and was about to light it when he stopped. Grunting, he  
pocketed his cigar and then grumbled. _"Can't smoke anywhere  
nowadays._"

Ranma glanced at Logan. _"That's good. Smoking's bad  
for your health._"

_"Not bad for someone with the ability to heal,_" Logan  
replied, leaning back in his seat. _"Any damage a cigarette or cigar  
could do to me is healed automatically._"

_"You're living a smokers dream,_" Ranma muttered.  
"_You gonna start trying to talk me into coming back yet?_"

Their waiter returned, bearing their drinks and food.  
"Everything look ok?"

Logan grunted a 'yeah' and the waiter walked away.  
_"I'm just here for the food, kid,_" he replied and cracked his  
neck.

"_Yeah, and Scott isn't stuck up,_" Ranma retorted,  
picking at the newly arrived food.

Grinning, Logan raised his glass. "_I'll drink to that._"

Eyeing his glass of beer, Ranma sighed, and slowly raised  
his glass of water, clinking it with Logan's drink.

Logan took a sip, and Ranma followed suit. Putting his  
drink down, Ranma looked down at his sandwich  
apprehensively.

"_So why aren't you wearing the watch, kid?_" Logan  
asked, nodding his head at Ranma's bare wrist.

_"The thing doesn't work in big crowds,_" Ranma  
mumbled, frowning. _"It would go in and out of English and  
Japanese. Made things really confusing._"

"_Right, right. . . looks like it still needs some work._"  
Logan replied before taking a bite out of his hoagie. He  
swallowed the bite. "_You can hand over the watch, I'll take it  
back to the mansion._"

Ranma raised an eyebrow. "_So you're really not here to  
take me back?_"

"_I told you I'm not,_" Logan replied, shaking his head. _"If  
you want to come back, you can come back, easy as that._"

_"Yeah, well, I'm not going back,_" Ranma grumbled,  
eyeing Logan cautiously.

"_And for the last time, I told you I'm not trying to make  
you. Now eat your damn food._"

Ranma stuck his tongue out at Logan, before picking up  
his sandwich and slowly taking a bite. He chewed, finding it to  
taste pretty good. By his knowledge he had never had one of  
these sandwiches before.

"_Like that?_" Logan asked as Ranma wolfed down his  
deli sandwich.

Ranma nodded, distracted by the food in his hands.

_"Thought you might._"

The two ate in silence, Logan finishing his hoagie first, and  
then downing the rest of his beer in one gulp. Standing, Logan  
stretched and slapped a twenty on the table. _"Well kid, was nice  
knowing you. See you later. . . or not._"

Ranma looked at Logan in confusion. "_You're leaving?_"

"_Yup, I'll see you later, kid,_" Logan replied and walked  
out of the deli.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"You left him?" Professor Xavier asked, stunned.

"Yup, left him there looking like a lost dog," Logan said,  
grinning.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ranma blinked, surprised and confused. He had no idea  
what to do now. He was alone again, in a big city he had no idea  
where anything was. With no money as well.

"_Maybe I shoulda rethought this,_" he muttered and  
glanced at the exit. "_Yeah, I'll just ask him for a little help in  
getting around._"

Sighing in resignation, Ranma stood up and rushed  
toward the door. He stopped at the door, turned around and ran  
back to the table. Snatching the rest of his sandwich, Ranma once  
again turned and this time ran out the door into the streets.

He looked to his right, not seeing Logan, then glanced  
quickly to his left. He sighed and glared.

Logan stood, arms crossed over his chest, looking rather  
smug. "_What took you so long?_" he asked.

Ranma grinned sheepishly and held up his the rest of his  
sandwich. _"I nearly forgot my sandwich._"

Logan nodded. "_Of course._"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"How did you know he'd come out?" Professor Xavier  
asked.

"Because he's just like me. I may enjoy the lone wolf act,  
Chuck, but I do know how much this place and you can help me.  
I'm sure the kid thinks exactly the same," Logan explained,  
plucking his cigar from his chest pocket and placing it in his  
mouth. He didn't light it.

"And here I thought you only stuck around here because  
you had nowhere else to go, Logan," Xavier joked.

Logan raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, partially that as well,"  
he said with a grin and stood up.

"What took you so long to get back here?" the Professor  
asked before Logan could leave the room.

Logan blinked and looked at the Professor. He lit his  
cigar, which immediately made Xavier frown. "Showed the kid  
around New York some. We gotta get Forge to look at the kids  
watch tomorrow. Good thing it's a Saturday," he said before  
striding out of the office.

Professor Xavier frowned. Logan was lying about  
something.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ranma sat up from where he was laying on his bed.  
There was a second knock on his bedroom door. "Yeah, come  
in," he said.

Logan entered the room, and shut the door behind him.  
He grinned.

"You didn't tell him, did you?" Ranma asked nervously.

"No, I didn't tell him," Logan replied, still grinning.

"It's not funny," Ranma growled, glaring at the mutant  
across the room.

"I don't know about that. . . I was pretty amused when-"  
Logan started.

"Shut up," Ranma mumbled, cutting him off. "Just. . .  
keep it to yourself, okay. . . I don't want anyone else knowing."

Logan shrugged. "It's bound to come out at some point,  
you know. You won't be able to hide it forever, specially not  
from the Professor."

"Yeah, well, even so, I'd rather no one else know that I  
turn into a girl when I'm splashed with cold water."

There was a knock at Ranma's door. "Yeah?"

The door opened a bit, and Jean's head popped in. She  
raised a quick eyebrow at Logan's presence who raised an  
eyebrow back at her.

"Yeah? Can we help you?" Logan asked.

"Uh. . . yeah, I just. . . wanted to welcome Ranma back  
and just say that I'm glad he decided to stay," Jean explained,  
and smiled at Ranma.

Ranma blinked and blushed slightly. "Uh, thanks," he  
mumbled, grinning and rubbing the back of his neck to hide his  
embarrassment.

"Yeah, well, uh. . . that's all," Jean muttered and ducked  
out of the room.

Logan glanced at Ranma, who looked back at him.

"What?" Ranma asked pointedly, putting his hands on his  
hips.

Logan shrugged. "Nothing, nothing at all," he replied, and  
walked out of the room. "See you at dinner, kid."

"Yeah," Ranma mumbled and looked around his room.  
He sighed. "What am I gonna do. . .?"

* * *

Next Time: Chapter 3 - Making New Friends  
Ranma's first Saturday at the mansion with the rest of the  
mutants. Xavier wants him to get to know his fellow classmates  
better. Should be easy enough, right? Right. . .? 

Author's Notes: Hmm. . . I've had this sitting on my comp for  
awhile, only half of it was written though. I pretty much wrote the  
rest of it in a couple of hours. Anyway, please review and let me  
know what you think, constructive criticism is very welcome, but  
flames are typically ignored.

Now for the fun times of Chapter Stats!  
(Chapter Stats do not include the Chapter Stats)

Chapter Stats:

Characters: 26387  
Words: 5683  
Sentences: 886  
Lines: 946  
Paragraphs: 677  
Pages: 22  
Average Word Length: 5  
Average Words Per Sentence: 6  
Maximum Words Per Sentence: 20


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